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A wide-ranging partnership formed last week to get broadband to low-income households needs adequate private and government funds to succeed, participating groups told us. One Economy submitted an application for funds from NTIA on March 15 and estimates more than…
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$78.6 million is necessary to fund the project. It has requested more than $52.1 million from NTIA, and currently has about $26.5 million in private matched funds from members of the coalition, said Ken Eisner, managing director of One Economy’s business development arm. If the stimulus application is granted, the funds will be used solely for training, credits toward computer purchases and project administration. “They're going to have to get the funding necessary to support the digital literacy training and computer subsidies,” NCTA Executive Vice President James Assey said. ISPs, telecom associations, technology companies and non-profits formed the Digital Adoption Coalition intended to bring broadband service, digital literacy training and equipment to 250,000 multi-family properties built by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. NCTA, AT&T, and USTelecom are among the 22 participants. The project sounds like a lot of money and a lot of homes, “but it’s not a big number,” said Gregory Rosston, deputy director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. The number of homes targeted is suitable for an experiment, he said. Different discounts can be applied in different homes “to find out which one is the most cost-effective in increasing penetration and getting people to keep it and pay for it.” To support the initiative, Microsoft will offer an instant rebate minimum of $175 on a selection of laptops and desktops operating under Windows 7 OS, said Mario Rebello, Microsoft director of U.S. citizenship.